Shooting Victim's (NY Tower) Future Grim

Our thoughts and prayers go out to 35-year old Robert Guynup and his family and acquaintances. Guynup, a driver for Dawson's Towing of Troy, NY, was shot in the head four months ago and has been in a semi-comatose state since.
Here's the story from the Times Union:

TROY -- A 35-year-old man shot in the head while trying to protect his family four months ago was injured so severely that he has not been able to talk to them since.

Robert Guynup, who was a driver for Dawson's Towing, was the type of guy who'd cut his next-door neighbor's lawn to help out. He was shot at 4:30 a.m. Sept. 13 trying to get some noisy youths to quiet down across the street from his Madison Avenue home.

''Life, as our family knew it, will never be the same again,'' said Guynup's mother-in-law, Deborah Jackson of Troy. He remains in a semi-comatose state with slow and minimal brain activity.

"It seems that the future doesn't hold much promise for him or for his wife and three children,'' Jackson said Monday as her son-in-law was in surgery again at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

On the night of the incident, Guynup was on call for the tow company. He and his family could not get any sleep when a group of youths at the Griswold Heights Apartments became more boisterous, Jackson said.

Guynup called police several times. The group quickly dispersed each time, only to re-form after the police cruiser left.

Guynup tried to talk with the group, but was ignored.

''The group came closer and closer to his house, and he was afraid to leave his wife and kids if he was called out on a tow,'' Jackson said.

Just after 4 a.m., Guynup went out with a camera to take pictures of the group to show police. A shot rang out, and he fell to the ground.

''You get to feel that these sorts of things happen to other people,'' Jackson said. ''I never thought I'd get the call I got that night.''

Guynup has remained hospitalized in critical condition.

Ariel T. Myers, who was 18 at the time of the incident, was indicted in October on charges of attempted murder, felony assault and weapon possession. Myers, now 19, remains in Rensselaer County Jail without bail. The case is pending in county court.

Prosecutors have said they have eyewitnesses and a photograph allegedly linking Myers to the crime, but Myers has said he was not there.

''Bad things don't happen all the time there, but when they do they are bad like this,'' said City Council President Clem Campana. ''They have started just last week to have neighborhood meetings there on these issues and that will help.''

Campana said he also is looking into getting more Troy Housing Authority police, whose shifts end at 2 a.m., to cover the later hours.

Guynup's family and their friends have organized a couple of fundraisers, including an event Jan. 9 that raised $10,000, Jackson said.

''It was just great and many people showed up to help,'' Jackson said. ''A lot of people were unaware of how bad Bob is. Some people had thought he was better.''

Reach Gardinier at 454-5696 or bgardinier@timesunion.com.

How to help

To help the Robert Guynup family, checks can be made payable to "Friends and Family of Robert Guynup" and dropped off at any M&T Bank branch.